Finding Home Again
by SecretKeeperForever
Summary: Two years ago Suzanne Chevalier disappeared from Spike's life. Leaving a hole in him he couldn't replace. Now she is back but what has she brought home with her? Longer summary inside, rating my go up. Genres are subjected to change.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you can recognize.

**Claimer:** I do own anything you can't recognize.

**WARNING:** mentions of alcohol/drug abuse, religious references

**Summary:** Suzanne Chevalier and Spike Scarlatti had been good friends in the police academy but then became an alcoholic destroying every part of her life. She left Spike alone and hurt, never even emailing him. She showed up two years after the fact a different person. She tried to push Spike away this time but he wouldn't give up on her. Will they pulled together or pushed apart?

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Chapter 1 "Starting To Heal,"**

Suzanne brought herself to knock on that door ignoring the fact it was pouring out. She had to start with Lou then to Spike. If she tried to talk to Spike straight up he won't understand. She knew if she walked away now she'd never be able to live her life.

"Suzanne?" said Lou.

"I'm not going to give a sappy story about why I did what I did but the truth. I was stupid and weak. At the time I left Toronto I was an alcoholic but that isn't any accuse for hurting you and Spike like I did. I hit rock bottom last year and I finally got help. I'm not asking you to forgive me right now to at least hear out my apology," said Suzanne tears filling her hazel eyes.

"Suzy, we would have helped you. You didn't need to run from us," said Lou.

"I wasn't me anymore," stated Suzy.

"Get in here before you get sick," demanded Lou.

Suzy was blindsided this put still came in. She hadn't realized how soaked she had gotten while debating knocking on the door. She started to shiver after being in warm air.

"Sit down and I'll go get you something warm to drink," said Lou.

"Nothing with alcohol please," said Suzy.

"You did just tell me you just recovered from being an alcoholic," said Lou.

Suzy smiled softly when Lou handed her hot chocolate.

"Are you going to tell me why you started drinking and why you stopped or do you want to drop the subject?" asked Lou.

"I started to drink because after I became a cop my family cut off all ties with me besides my little sister who tried to get me to get drugs for her but I refused and she said things that sent me over the edge. I used alcohol to try to numb the feeling of my family rejecting me. I hit rock bottom after my little sister overdosed on drugs and I nearly killed myself when I drank a little bit too much after her funeral. I tried to go to my parents but they told me they never wanted see me again. So I found myself at a church one day and I literally begged for God to help me. A priest had heard me and told me about a program. I got into it and came out a better person. I left the police force and I open a little cafe," said Suzy.

"I never saw you as religious," whispered Lou not meaning to say it all.

"I wasn't until last year. I asked for help and I got it," said Suzy "now I'm trying to redeem myself."

"I honesty could never turn my back on you. You made Spike and I get up and keep moving that first year. You should have been worried about yourself not us," said Lou.

"Back then I was just a kid who thought my family would be proud of anything I did," said Suzy.

"Most families would have been proud to have a daughter like you. Your family will never realize how lucky they are to have you," said Lou.

"I never realized I didn't need them when had you two. I never imagine that it would go this well," said Suzy trying not to start crying.

"You always did come up with unrealistic outcomes," said Lou.

"That's true," laughed Suzy.

Suzy took a deep breath and stared into the mug.

"How did Spike take it?" asked Suzy barely in a whisper.

"To be honest, he took it hard. He loved you and you left him a mess," said Lou.

"I never meant to hurt him," whispered Suzy tears forming.

"I know you didn't. But he hasn't had a relationship that has lasted more than a month since you," said Lou.

"No one was supposed to get her besides me but if that was true I wouldn't be here," said Suzy.

"He will forgive you if you just talk to him. Trust me he does miss you and if you called his cell you would understand. We both missed you," said Lou.

"I might just call him but don't expected me to talk to him right away," said Suzy.

"Here is his cell, don't tell him I gave it to you," said Lou writing done Spike's cell number of a piece of paper.

"I'll call him sometime but he better not answer," said Suzy.

"Stop worrying so much. He won't be mad at you," said Lou.

"You can't be for certain. If what you told me is true I don't think I could have screwed up any more than I did," stated Suzy frowning.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, we all make mistakes," said Lou.

"I nearly destroyed my whole life and nearly lost myself that isn't a mistake everyone makes," said Suzy.

"I have another friend who was an alcoholic and he lost everything he had, he hasn't seen his son in eight years because of it. After recovering he ended up my boss," said Lou.

"Thanks for everything," said Suzy getting up.

"Here, call me, I don't want to lose contact again," said Lou jotting down his cellphone number.

"Lou," said Suzy turning around before leaving.

"Yes," said Lou.

"I did miss you guys too," said Suzy.

"You didn't need to tell me, I saw it in your eyes. You were a cop, you should know that the eyes tell everything," said Lou.

"Were being the word in that sentence. I've changed since then," said Suzy leaving.

Lou couldn't get Suzy out of his head, well the new Suzy. She had always been a confident spitfire but now she was timid and calm that it made him worry about her. He could see that she wasn't the same Suzy he knew. Her eyes told a deeper story then what she told him. He wasn`t sure she was telling the truth about everything. She seemed so broken that it seemed unlikely she had ever gone to rehab.

Suzy popped down on her couch in her apartment. She just sat there for the longest of time just thinking and staring. She looked at the photo of her, Spike and Lou on the day they graduated from the police academy then sighed.

She dialed Spike's cellphone number. She heard it ring three times before the answering machine came on.

"You've reached Spike Scarlatti. I'm not available at the moment so leave your number and a message. I'll get back to you soon as possible. And if this is Suzy please call back because it's not too late," said the machine.

Suzy choked back tears. He still loved her after so many years and still is willing to talk. She didn't feel like she deserved friends like Lou and Spike.

"Hello, anyone there?" asked Spike.

"Spike?" said Suzy barely a whisper.

"Suzy?" said Spike stunned.

"I just talked to Lou; I would like to talk to you sometime soon," said Suzy.

"Okay-when?" asked Spike.

"Whenever," said Suzy.

"Tomorrow, I'll call you after I finish work," said Spike.

"Sorry I let the machine go on for so long," said Suzy.

"Its fine," said Spike.

"I will explain everything and by the end of this you're going to get tired of hearing this but I'm so sorry. I had to hit rock bottom before I could be saved and I didn't want to hurt you more than I had to," whimpered Suzy.

"Just don't run from me again," said Spike.

"I will never run from you or any friend again," said Suzy.

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><p>Please review and I would like to thank my Belta Reader, TattooedLibrarian, who never gave up on me trying to write this story.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you can recognize.

**Claimer:** I do own anything you can't recognize.

**WARNING:** mentions of alcohol abuse, swearing, religious references

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Chapter 2 "Start Over,"**

Suzanne had gotten up before the crack of dawn and started to work on fixing up her café. The place hadn't been used in several decades but she was up for the job. Hard work could keep her mind occupied.

She wanted to make a warm home like atmosphere. She had bought warmer more mellow colours for the ceiling and walls. She had put in oak floors and gotten most wooden setting. The counter was made of pine. The food displays, booth seats, cash registers, security system or any of the kitchen appliances hadn't come in yet so it was still very bare.

No matter what she would be working on Lou and Spike would come into it. She decided to just do painting after nearly falling from the ladder. She found herself still drifting but not in a dangerous way. She loved how it was coming together.

She kept her phone in her pocket while she worked but by noon she had nothing else she could do. She had to wait for the paint to dry to do anything more so she ended up locking up and heading home.

Her house was all finished up in two days. She didn't need to renovate too much, luckily. She did need to re-side the house, mow the lawn and fix little things. She knew that the roof would need work but not for a while let. She honestly didn't know what to with all of the space.

Suzanne sat down at her desk in her office. Setting goals, making plans and thinking about the future was part of the new her, she knew that she needed to keep herself on a path were there was no temptation to start drinking again. She had an order to the insanity of life. She had become an adult.

Building a career had been a top priority since she was eighteen but now it was starting a family. She had always loved kids and wanted to have kids but had never really given it a deep thought to it until this past year. Some would say it was a stage but what stage lasts a year. She knew better then to just get pregnant when she didn't have a stable income for herself

Her cell phone ringing woke up her from her thoughts. She fumbled it out of her pocket and opened it.

"Susanne Chevalier, owner of La Fleur Rouge Café," said Suzanne.

"Spike Scarlatti, SRU officer," said Spike.

"Hey, I didn't realise it was you," said Suzanne.

"I just got off of work," said Spike.

"So where do you want to meet?" asked Suzanne.

"No idea," said Spike.

"I have two ideas; at the unfinished La Fleur Rouge Café or my house," Suzanne suggested.

"Okay-uhh," said Spike.

"Never mind, that sounds awkward," said Suzanne.

"There's a coffee shop I know of," offered Spike.

"Okay," said Suzanne.

"Wouldn't it help to know the name and location first?" asked Spike.

"Probably would be helpful so I don't end up Regent Park like last time I didn't get directions," said Suzanne.

"It was quite entertaining when you called up Lou asking him to come get you because you were too scared to pull over," said Spike.

"It wouldn't have been entertaining if you were there," said Suzanne "we are way off topic now."

"It's called Timmy's," said Spike.

Spike gave Suzanne directions to Timmy's. Suzanne had to write it down as Spike was telling her, making him repeat several times to get it all down. She knew she'd get lost at least once just because she had no sense of direction.

"I'll try to be there soon as possible but I might be a few minutes late," said Suzanne.

"Suzy, I think by now I'm used to it. Either your super early, just made it or late by several minutes," said Spike.

"See you soon. I can't drive and talk," said Suzy.

"We established that back in the academy when you crashed a go-cart into the wall when I was trying to talk to you while we were racing," Spike reminded her.

"I can't believe you still remember that! I remember how for the entire day I refused to talk to you because I thought you did that on purpose," she said with a smile.

"Lou forced us to play adventure miniature golf so we would talk and he didn't have to be the mediator. You hit me in the back of the head with a golf ball and I pushed you in the pond before we even talked to each other," said Spike.

"I started it with the golf ball so I should have seen the pond thing coming. When we got back I was soaked and Lou had to get a frog out of my hair," laughed Suzy.

"He _had_ to go put it back in the pond too," laughed Spike.

"We can talk when I get there," said Suzy trying to get hold of herself.

"Fine," sighed Spike.

"No pouting," said Suzy trying not to sound like her grandmother.

"Since when are you my ma?" asked Spike.

"Let's just hang up otherwise we'll just talk and never meet," said Suzy.

Suzy and Spike hung up without another word to each other.

_He really must want to see me_, thought Suzy.

Finding Timmy's wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. She found it with more ease than usual. She had only made one wrong turn and had to back track.

Timmy's was almost empty so it took no time at all for Suzy to find Spike. It hadn't been that long since they last say each other but it had felt like decades to both of them. She just froze; she was terrified of confronting Spike. Luckily, he wasn't as terrified as she was.

"Suzy," said Spike hugging Suzy.

Suzy felt herself caving into his hug and wrapping her arms around him. She tried not to cry but couldn't help it. She felt so weak crying so much.

"Please don't cry," said Spike.

"I can't help it," sniffed Suzy.

"I've missed you so much," whispered Spike.

"I'm soo sorry. I never meant to hurt you," sobbed Suzy.

"Shh, it's alright. I know you didn't mean to," said Spike.

It took several minutes for Suzy to calm down enough to speak. She felt so weak when she cried but after years of holding it back she couldn't help it.

"I owe you a reason for running off. After I got out of the academy I started to drink a lot. I thought my family would have been proud of it but they weren't. That doesn't justify it nor is it an excuse but a reason. I hit rock bottom when my sister overdosed on drugs and when I tried to get support from my family but they shunned me. I wandered into a church begging God for help; a priest overheard me and told me about a rehab program about a year ago. I got my life together, left the police force and opened a café in Vancouver then transferred the business here," said Suzy.

"I wish you would have talked to me," said Spike.

"I was embarrassed to admit how gullible I had been," said Suzy.

"None of that matters. You're here now. We can forget the past if you would like," said Spike.

"Okay, let's say we're back to when we first started our real jobs after the academy," said Suzy.

"Besides you decided not to be a cop," said Spike.

"Sounds perfect," said Suzy.

"Since we are back in time there is something I want to say that I never said," said Spike not making eye contact.

"Go ahead, remember clean slate," she prodded gently.

"I love you and I don't think I ever can stop," said Spike.

Suzy drew a deep breath. She was stunned even though she knew that he did but not to the point he would tell her. She could see that he was telling the truth. She didn't want this to go too fast.

"Spike, I love you too but I want to take it slow, naturally," said Suzy.

"We can take as slow as you want but I don't want for us to let this feeling go," said Spike.

"I don't want to either but I want our friendship to have time to heal first," said Suzy.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Just wait for me," said Suzy seeing the disappointment in Spike's eyes.

"I've waited this long and I can wait a bit longer," said Spike.

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><p>Please review. For any returning readers, thanks for sticking around past chapter 1. Huge thanks to TattooedLibrarian for catching the stupid mistakes I make. Stick around for Chapter 3!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you can recognize.

**Claimer:** I do own anything you can't recognize.

**WARNING:** mentions of mild violence, swearing, religious references

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Chapter 3 "Life Is Dangerous"**

Suzy was starting to believe La Fleur Rouge Café was more work then she could handle. She would run herself nearly on empty since it opened and wasn't making as much money as she put in. If she couldn't get enough money the first month she knew she was screwed. She had taken a huge risk with opening it and might just end up in deep trouble.

She always made time to meet with Lou and Spike. She could have the worst day ever and as soon as she met with them it would become a great day. Talking about the stupid things they did in the academy and sometimes the SRU would come up in a conversation. She knew almost everything about Team 1 from Spike, he talked about them all the time and she didn't mind. Lou was typically the one to tell him to shut up about work. She felt like she did when she first got out of the academy.

Though they did meet at a bar, called the Moose, she never got an alcoholic drink even when the bartender would harass her about it. She noticed that Spike and Lou really tried to keep their team and her from meeting. She didn't understand why but didn't press the issue.

"Quit looking over your guys' shoulders. It is driving me crazy," said Suzanne.

"Suzy, you're the one who said you can't be overcautious," said Lou.

"You're going to be overcautious about the wrong thing pretty soon," said Suzy her eyes narrowing.

"Spike, she's going to hurt me," said Lou tapping Spike's shoulder.

"Well don't insult her," said Spike.

"I didn't," said Lou.

"Then don't annoy her," said Spike.

Suzy gave Lou a baffled look unsure of why Spike was being so ornery. She didn't want to get him more irritable by asking the wrong question.

"Did you guys have a bad day at work?" mouthed Suzy.

Lou shook his head no.

Suzy chewed on the inside of her lip for a second. She switched seats with Lou so she could try to figure out what was wrong without making a scene.

"Is everything okay?" asked Suzy.

Spike grunted.

"I don't speak troll," said Suzy.

Lou muffled a chuckle.

"Can't you two just leave me be?" snarled Spike.

Suzy was taken back. She could feel her own anger starting to boil. She knew she should walk away but she didn't.

Lou scowled knowing he hadn't done anything wrong. He could see the sparks in Suzy's eyes. He leant over to grab her before she lost it.

"I was just trying to help," snarled Suzy.

"You're a huge part of the problem," said Spike.

Lou saw the pained looked in Suzy's eyes. He knew she would breakdown into tears if Spike said anything else. He didn't want to go to work tomorrow and have to lie to Sarge, Ed and Wordy about why Spike was distracted again.

"Suzy, leave him be. His irritation is just amplified by the alcohol," said Lou grabbing Suzy's wrist.

"I can take care of myself," said Suzy pulling her arm away.

Lou let go knowing that she might just lash out on him if he didn't. He hadn't been holding on tightly anyways but he knew she could throw a good punch.

Suzy turned and left without another word. Her head was spinning, full of pain and anger. She couldn't even tell which feeling was which anymore. When she went to find her car keys and realized she had locked them in her car, she finally lost it.

"Really? Of course!" yelled Suzy at her car. "Why must you have an automatic lock? You can tell me where to go, why can't you unlock yourself!"

"Lock your keys in the car after a bad day?" asked a male voice.

Suzy nearly jumped out of skin. Her fists tightened and she spun around. Her heart was pounding.

The man was wearing a black hoodie that covered his face. Suzy backed up pressing her back against her car. She knew this wasn't going to end well. She texted help to Lou praying he would come out.

"Identify yourself," demanded Suzy.

"Give me your purse," demanded the man.

"I think not," said Suzy mustering all the confidence she had.

"I wasn't giving you an option," said the man moving toward her.

Suzy tensed up ready to defend herself anyway she had to. She wasn't defenseless.

He went to grab her; she drew her right arm back.

CRACK!

Her fist met his jaw. He staggered back and took something of his hoodie.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

She felt a bullet skim her bicep, she staggered back. He knocked her to the ground before she had time to fight back again. She kicked him hard in the stomach.

"Suzy!" yelled Lou and Spike in unison.

She saw her attacker try to run but was tackled to the ground by Lou. She didn't want to move afraid she might do damage. She tried to breathe deeply but the pain radiating from her bicep was still there. She had felt much worse when she got shot in the leg while chasing a subject she didn't know was armed, but it still hurt though.

"Suzy, stay with me," said Spike kneeling next to her.

"I locked my keys in the car," choked out Suzy.

"Save your energy," said Spike.

"Spike, Lou," said a male voice.

Suzy couldn't focus enough to see who it was. She could feel herself slipping away. She tried to fight the urge to close her eyes. She could see darkness starting to blur her vision.

"Stay with me," said Spike his voice cracking.

"That bastard got away. I got a good look though," said Lou.

"I called paramedics," said the other man.

Suzy tried the fight the darkness but was finding it nearly impossible to stay conscious. She felt Spike's grip tighten.

"Suzy, come on you can fight it," said Spike.

"Spike, she's lost a lot of blood. It might be better if she does lost consciousness," said the other man.

"Shut up, Sam. You don't know her like I do, I mean we do," snarled Spike.

"Shut up Spike," moaned Suzy.

"Suzy, just try to hang in there a bit longer, paramedics are on the way," said Lou.

"I forget if it is normal if everything is spinning," said Suzy trying to keep herself wake even though the pain.

"Concussion?" asked Sam.

"Betting so," said Lou.

"Don't bet on me," cried Suzy.

"Keep your hormones to yourself," said Lou putting his hands up in surrender.

"Slap him for me," said Suzy to Spike "and I can't feel my wrist."

"Sorry and I will," said Spike.

"Paramedics-take-forever," said Suzy slurring her words

She heard sirens before she blacked out.

Suzy's eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry and muffled. She could hear mechanical beeping and snoring. She could make out the fuzzy figure of Lou and Spike to her right. Spike was out cold and Lou looked to be somewhat conscious.

"You're awake," Lou said in a surprised tone.

"I think so," mumbled Suzy rubbing her eyes so she could focus them.

"Spike, wake up. Suzy's awake," said Lou shaking Spike.

"Huh," said Spike nearly jumping to his feet.

"Suzy's awake," said Lou.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," said Spike.

"I was just getting use to not seeing, hearing or feeling anything too," said Suzy.

"You gave us quite a fright," said Lou.

"It gave me a fright too. I really didn't see being shot coming," said Suzy.

"Most people don't recall what happens," said Spike.

"I felt something hit my arm and then I hit the ground. Being shot seemed to fit that. It's not the first time I've been shot," said Suzy

"The doctor told us it had just nicked your bicep but ripped a part of your bicep muscle. You had a mild concussion with minimal if any memory loss," said Lou.

"Four weeks and I'm back to working order then. I have no idea what to do about the café," said Suzy.

"Teach David how to make the muffins and donuts," said Spike.

"How is it you know my cashier's name?" asked Suzy.

"We just want to make sure you're hiring clean people," said Lou.

"I do that on my own. I looked at whatever I could find that wasn't a violation of privacy," said Suzy.

"That's more than what we did," said Spike.

"Is it okay if I go home and shower then come back?" asked Lou.

"You don't have to come back. I'm in a hospital, nothing will happen to me here," said Suzy.

"If I don't make it back it means I fell asleep," said Lou.

"What time is it?" asked Suzy.

"Midnight," said Spike.

Lou stood by the door for a few minutes to listen in on his friends. He knew neither of them would tell them what they talked about if he didn't.

"I'm sorry I was acting that way earlier. I don't know what came over me," said Spike.

"You were drinking, that's what came over you," said Suzy.

"I was worried I'd lose you for a minute there. I heard gunshots then saw you kicking that guy off you. If Lou hadn't gone after him I might have seriously injured him," said Spike.

"It wasn't even that bad of an injury," said Suzy.

"I had no idea then," said Spike.

"Why is it my life so hectic even after I'm no longer a cop?" asked Suzy wincing when she got serge of pain from her arm.

"Danger is attracted to you," said Spike.

"It doesn't even matter what job I'm doing," said Suzy.

"I was surprised they didn't use morphine," said Spike.

"I'm allergic to morphine. Learned that while in Vancouver when I got in a car accident and I went into cardiac arrest after they used morphine," said Suzy.

Spike just stared at Suzy. She knew whatever they were using wasn't working enough.

"Suzy, I don't like seeing you getting hurt," said Spike.

"I don't like being shot at either," said Suzy rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious," said Spike.

"If this is about what you said, forget about it. I've forgotten about it," said Suzy.

"If I hadn't said those things you wouldn't have left when you did and you wouldn't be here," said Spike.

"It might have not made a difference, he could have been waiting when I came out later," said Suzy.

"Why did you fight back? You could have been killed," said Spike.

"I know it was stupid but I wasn't just going to let a random person walk all over me and take whatever they wanted," said Suzy.

Spike sighed knowing there was no way he was going to win. She would have a reason for every question he would ask. He knew that she knew how he felt about it.

"It made me realize something though," said Suzy.

"What?" asked Spike.

"We're wasting time. I realize that you're never going to leave me; you keep looking for me for two years and never truly got over me. We don't know how long we have and I want to spend howfever much time I have with you," said Suzy.

Lou smiled and turned to leave. He knew it was only a matter of time. He was glad Suzy had finally stopped being stubborn about it.

* * *

><p>Welcome back returning readers, I hope you enjoyed chapter 3. And thank you for reading for first time viewers. I would like to thank my belta, TattooedLibrarian,for helping me even when I'm not in the best of moods.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything you can recognize.

**Claimer: **I do own anything you can't recognize.

**WARNING: **mentions of mild violence, reference to murder, mild swearing, ect.

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Chapter 4 "The Lunch Conversation"**

Suzy had been had out of the hospital for a month when she found out she wouldn't be able to work for three more months due to damage the doctor had missed. She found herself liking not working all the time. She loved spending so much time with Spike and she was able to do more of her hobbies. She was able to plant a garden in her backyard and she created several cake recipes just for the heck of it. She did go over to the cafe once a day to make sure everything was going fine and did financial things every Wednesday.

She found herself looking at adoption agency websites. She laughed at herself once she realized what she was doing. She knew it was hilarious that she saw a little kid and now she was looking at having kids again. She sighed knowing it was just a hormone spike but wished she would do something about it before her realism kicked in and told her it was a stupid idea.

Suzy answered her cell phone when it rang. She was still in her land of little children running around.

"Hello," said Suzy.

"Good Afternoon," said Spike, I have lunch break right now," said Spike.

"I guessed that," laughed Suzy.

"How was your first day not being at the cafe?" asked Spike.

"Eventful," said Suzy.

"Care to explain?" inquired Spike.

"Don't worry about it, I don't mean the 'eventful' you're thinking of," said Suzy, her voice trailing off.

"Are we still on for dinner or do you want to bypass tonight?" asked Spike.

Lou gave Spike a curious look. He knew something was up but wasn't going to interrupt Spike.

"Of course, what are we going to do tonight?" asked Suzy.

"You're the one who knows the neighbourhood," said Spike, smirking.

"Are you up for sushi?" asked Suzy.

"Sure, as long as we don't go to the restaurant where you got sick after eating," said Spike, recalling the last time they ate at a sushi restaurant.

"It wasn't their fault. I didn't know what the soup was," said Suzy.

"What was it?" asked Spike.

"Shark soup, I looked up what it was online then I got sick," said Suzy.

"Lovely," grimaced Spike.

"Norimaki sounds good right now," said Suzy.

"That's Japanese right?" asked Spike.

"Yes, you're getting good at Japanese sushi names," said Suzy.

"With you it's hard not to know what it's named though I don't know what you're telling the waiters since you speak Japanese to them," said Spike.

"If I didn't they would mess up our food all the time. I do sometimes accidentally insult them," said Suzy.

"Where did you ever learn Japanese anyway?" asked Spike.

"My aunt had Japanese neighbours who had two teenage daughters in my grade so I picked up the language," said Suzy.

"I forgot that you lived with your aunt in high school," said Spike.

"Where do you think I got into all the strange foods? Certainly not my authoritarian parents," said Suzy.

"I wouldn't think so," said Spike.

"You should be eating not talking to me," said Suzy, remembering Spike had said it was his lunch break.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was alright," said Spike.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself," said Suzy.

"Last time I let you do that you got yourself shot," said Spike.

"Give it a rest. How was I supposed to know he had a gun?" asked Suzy.

"I really don't want to start this again," said Spike.

"Go eat lunch," said Suzy.

"I'll call you when I get off of work," said Spike.

"Alright," said Suzy.

Spike sat down at the lunch table with Lou's eyes locked on him.

"What did she do now?" asked Lou.

"She told me she had an eventful day and then said it wasn't the 'eventful' I was thinking of which makes no sense," snarled Spike.

"I think I know why but she would kill me for listening in on her conversation with Melanie," said Lou.

"Right, the cashier. Aren't they around the same age?" asked Spike.

"Melanie is thirty," said Lou.

"So a year difference, I would say they are close in age," said Spike.

"I'm just going to tell you because otherwise you're not going to leave me alone until I do," said Lou.

"Come on Lou," said Spike.

"She was telling Melanie about how she was tired of her stupid biological clock messing with her day," said Lou, trying keep a straight face.

"Oh great, just what I need to know," said Spike, turning red.

"You asked," said Lou.

"What is she even talking about that?" asked Spike-not meaning to say it out loud.

"She's getting to the age where she is starting to think about having kids. It's just something all females go through once in a while," said Lou.

"That was a rhetorical question," said Spike.

"What are you two talking about?" asked Ed, sitting down with Wordy and Greg.

"Spike's girlfriend and a close friend of ours from the academy," said Lou.

"Do we know her?" asked Wordy.

"Not that I know of. She's been gone for a long time," said Spike.

"Wait a second. Is she the girl who disappeared without a trace a few years a back?" asked Greg.

"She didn't disappear without a trace, she just left without telling anyone and to be honest I'm not even sure," said Lou, trying to help Spike.

"Just be careful. People like that typically don't just settle down after running off," said Greg.

"She's not the same person she was when she left," said Spike feeling cornered.

"That is so true. She changed careers and mellowed out," said Lou.

"Not enough to keep her from getting in trouble," said Spike.

"Stop bringing that up. It wasn't the brightest thing she's done but I think there are many other things she could have done," said Lou.

"Is Spike talking about what happened outside Moose again?" asked Sam, sitting down with Jules.

"What happened outside Moose?" asked Ed.

"Great, you had to say that," said Lou.

"You two didn't tell them," said Sam.

"No," said Spike.

"Come on and tell us," said Wordy.

"Leave him alone boys, if he wants to tell us he will," said Greg.

"So what is going on that is bothering you?" asked Ed. "What it's a different topic!"

"I really don't know half of the time," said Spike.

"You're at the 'what the hell do you want to know' stage of her relationship," said Ed.

"Nope, more like 'you don't talk to me' stage," said Spike.

"It is quite entertaining to listen to them on the phone," said Lou.

"You're the one who listens in to her conversations with her friends," said Spike.

"That was an accident and they weren't being quiet about it," said Lou.

"They didn't know you were there!" exclaimed Spike.

"How do you know if they did or didn't?" asked Lou.

"Like she would have said that if she knew you were listening in," said Spike.

"You got me there," said Lou.

"Here's the deal: you don't tell her about me talking about her at work and I won't tell her about you listening in on her," said Spike.

"Deal," said Lou.

"Are you going to tell us more about her or not?" asked Jules.

"I was getting there. My girlfriend, Lou, and I went to the academy together; she didn't talk to anyone until Lou talked to her during one of his language classes. She would end up on the Marine Unit here for three years then transferred to Vancouver where she would leave the police force, last year. She now owns a café which she originally started in Vancouver," said Spike.

"Why did she leave?" asked Jules.

"No idea," said Spike.

"I know that her little sister, her aunt, and a close co-worker died that year. She told me there was no way she would pass a psychological test again," said Lou.

"I didn't know her aunt or a co-worker died, she never mentioned it," said Spike.

"When I was looking for her I came across the memorial pages," said Lou.

"Three close deaths, they must not have been easy," said Greg.

"I'm guessing that's why she left the police force," said Lou.

"How old was her sister?" asked Ed.

"Twenty," said Spike.

"That's young," said Jules.

"She still isn't accepting what the doctors said killed her. I don't know why she doesn't but I know she has a reason for it," said Spike.

"They were hired by her parents; of course she doesn't trust them. I do know she ordered the test results to be examined again," said Lou.

"I think I might have heard about that from a friend of mine. Is her sister's name Rosie?" asked Ed.

"Actually yes," said Spike.

"Is Chevalier the last name?" asked Ed.

"I think so, given it is my girlfriend's last name," said Spike.

"She has lots of support with that suspicion. Almost all of the Vancouver police force says the father either killed his daughter or hired someone to do it. It looked like a drug overdose at first until they saw defensive wounds," said Ed.

"She told me Rosie overdosed," said Lou.

"She wasn't going to make assumptions until she felt sure about it," said Spike.

"That makes sense," said Lou.

"You two could confuse use all day long but we have to get back to work," said Greg.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter. You'll get to see some fluff next chapter. Thanks PSU96Girl for belta reading this chapter. Please review.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you can recognize.

**Claimer:** I do own anything you can't recognize.

**WARNING:** mild injury, mild sexual reference, mild swearing, ect.

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Chapter 5 "The Puppy"**

Spike and Lou had spent most of the morning putting up a fence around Suzy's garden. She had decided she wanted to get a puppy but didn't want a puppy destroying her small garden. Suzy had gone out to get puppy food an hour ago

"Do you think she is trying to tell me something with this whole getting a puppy thing?" asked Spike as he looked around for screws.

"She is using a puppy to try not to counteract the desire to have a child. Spike, you have to just let her work through it," said Lou.

Spike let out a sigh.

"Did she find out what breed yet?" asked Lou.

"German Shepherd, she found a puppy and she just wants everything ready before she picks it up," said Spike.

"She isn't joking around," laughed Lou.

"It's like nesting. I've been patient but it's annoying," said Spike.

"Sooner we finish this the sooner you get Suzy back," said Lou.

"Let's hurry up," said Spike.

"You should talk to her about kids, I know neither of you want to bring it up but it's an important thing to know in a relationship," said Lou.

"Lou, stop giving me advice on my relationship, I can handle it myself," said Spike.

"I'm just telling you what I've seen Suzy break up relationships over," said Lou.

"You always talk like you know her better than me," said Spike, bringing the hammer down harder than usual.

"I've known her longer then you think," said Lou.

"I'm back!" called Suzy, opening the back door.

BANG!

Spike hadn't been paying attention to what he had been doing and hit his thumb with the hammer.

"Damn it!" yelled Spike.

"Is everything okay?" asked Suzy.

"No, Spike just decided to hammer his thumb," said Lou.

"Come in here so I can put ice on it," said Suzy, finding a plastic baggy then putting ice in it.

"Fine," said Spike before going into Suzy's house.

The backdoor was in her kitchen. She always told Lou how much she loved the idea of being able to watch kids in the backyard while she was in the kitchen cooking dinner or something. Spike just thought she liked it so he didn't track mud everywhere.

Suzy forced him to sit down on the couch in the living room. She put the ice on his hand and turned the television on.

"I'll have Lou finish up the fence, you need to ice that," said Suzy.

Spike said nothing. Suzy was puzzled by this but still went into the kitchen.

Spike could hear Lou and Suzy talking in whispers. He was trying to keep his anger to himself. He wanted to know what they were talking about.

Suzy sat down next to Spike. She went to take the ice off so she could see how bad it was but he pulled away from her.

"What were you and Lou talking about?" asked Spike, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"I asked what happened and he explained," said Suzy, taken aback by Spike.

"Then why were you whispering?" said Spike.

"I don't know why. I can't believe you don't trust your best friend and your girlfriend," said Suzy, losing her own temper.

Spike saw her hazel eyes light up with anger. That spark he used to see so often came back.

"I never said I didn't trust you or Lou," said Spike.

"Then why are you always talking to Lou rudely, I do notice you know," said Suzy. "It's not the Spike I know when I see you doing that."

"I don't mean to," whispered Spike.

"You don't have to get so upset that Lou knows so much about me. We meet in high school when we were juniors. He knows more about me than I sometimes know about myself," said Suzy.

"I didn't know that," said Spike.

"You never asked how we meet. We were just sort of friends and then when we ended up in the same language class at the academy we became close friends," said Suzy. "I knew about his past in the gang and he knew about my past also."

"What past?" asked Spike.

"In my early teen years I moved in with my aunt. Her son was in the gang, he was in his mid-teens. He was high up in the gang too. He took me and his younger brother, Leo, to meetings all the time but we never joined. I saw Lou a few times back then but had no idea who he was. He didn't act like the others did back then but I was too scared to talk to him. Neither Leo nor I would ever join the gang but people thought we were part of it because we got in so many fights and stood up to teachers who were assholes," said Suzy.

Spike was speechless. He couldn't see Suzy being at a gang meeting or getting into fights in high school.

"My aunt found out that he was part of the gang and had taken me and Leo to meetings when we were just twelve years old. I would never see her as mad as she was that day she found out. My older cousin, David, had also taken his little sister, who was a year younger than me, to meetings when he was supposed to be babysitting her," said Suzy, taking a deep breath.

"My senior year things changed a lot. David never came home anymore and was now very high up in the gang but not quite leader. My younger cousin, Tracy, was now high up in the gang too. Tracy, Lou, Leo, and I were driving home from school after a basketball game; actually Tracy had been driving. We had to drive through Regent Park. We stopped at a stop light and all of a sudden we were being shot at. Sometime during this I was shot. The last thing I remember was Leo jumping into the front seat and trying to drive while still halfway in the back seat. According to Leo and Lou we were able to get a few neighbourhoods away and were able to call for police and paramedics. By the time they arrived Tracy was dead and I was in critical condition," said Suzy.

"Where was Leo when you needed someone when Rosie died?" asked Spike.

"Afghanistan, he is returning next week," said Suzy.

"I'm sorry I've been such a jerk lately," said Spike.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to but thanks anyway," said Suzy.

Before Spike got in another word Suzy kissed him. He didn't notice how passionate they had gotten until he heard Lou laugh.

"Hey, you two, I was just outside and I really don't think you should be doing that when Spike may have broken his thumb," laughed Lou.

Suzy turned bright red when she realized that somehow her shirt had been taken off while they were kissing.

"I didn't even feel the pain of using my hand until you decided to interrupt," said Spike.

"Spike," said Suzy.

"Sorry for being a jerk to you the past few weeks," said Spike.

"We all have our moments," said Lou.

"Now can I see your hand?" asked Suzy.

It had bruised a bit already and Suzy could tell Spike was in pain when he winced when she touched it.

"I better take you to get your thumb looked at and then we can go pick up the puppy," said Suzy.

"I've done my job with the fence so I'm going to head home," said Lou.

"Thanks for your help. Leo is coming home next week," said Suzy.

"Let me know when he's flying in and I'll be there," said Lou.

"Alright," said Suzy.

The hospital waiting room was packed. Suzy couldn't imagine what it was like for the nurses today. She had a feeling they would be waiting a while even after they had an x-ray done.

There were kids running around all over, people moaning and groaning-not to mention the couple fighting next to her. She felt awful for the doctor today.

"They'll have the x-ray read and to the doctor before we see him," said Spike, smirking.

"I'm sure they will," said Suzy, hitting her head on the wall.

"Dang that hurt," said Suzy, trying not to swear with little kids around.

"Don't give yourself a concussion," said Spike.

"I'm going to kill this couple," mouthed Suzy.

"Where are these kids' parents?" asked Spike as a boy around six years old knocked over an old lady who was using a cane while the boy was chasing his four siblings.

Spike and Suzy got up and helped the old lay get up and into a seat. Finally a woman got hold of her kids and made them sit down. She nearly dragged the boy over and made him apologize to the old lady.

Suzy's blood was boiling. She couldn't believe the way this woman treated her kids. She was biting her tongue to keep herself from yelling at the lady.

"That woman has six too many kids," said Spike.

"I agree. She makes my blood boil. She has six kids and treats them all like trash. People like her don't deserve kids. If she does this to them in public I hate to imagine what she does at home," said Suzy.

"I'm tempted to call child services," said Spike.

Suzy saw the women yell at a little girl who looked no more than three years old, making her cry.

Suzy took out her cell phone and called child services herself. She told them everything she had seen and where she was. Spike said nothing, just watched Suzy's wide range of emotions while talking.

"You weren't joking," said Spike.

"I don't joke when I see a mother treating her kids poorly," said Suzy.

"You know you'd make a great mother," said Spike.

"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend," said Suzy, blushing.

"I really believe it, I always have," said Spike.

"You'd be a great dad yourself," said Suzy.

"We've never talked about kids before," said Spike.

"Michelangelo Scarlatti," called a nurse.

"Go get that thumb looked at," said Suzy, nudging Spike.

"Go get the puppy. I'll call you when I'm done," said Spike.

Spike gave Suzy a look saying that they would talk about kids sometime soon. Suzy sighed as she got up; she was torn between wanting to have kids and feeling like she was forcing it. She saw the child services workers enter as she was leaving the hospital. She hoped the best for those kids; it had to be better than what they looked to be living in.

An hour later Spike called Suzy to tell her he had finished up. She was waiting to pick him up at the front doors when he came out. He got into the front seat and then a small ball of black and brown fur jumped into his lap

"Why hello. I see you like my lap," said Spike petting the small puppy's head.

The puppy lifted its head up to lick his hand. Suzy smiled at Spike.

"Is the puppy male or female?" asked Spike when Suzy stopped at a stop sign.

"Female," said Suzy.

It was several more minutes before Suzy had to stop at a stoplight.

"What are we going to name her?" asked Spike.

"How does Adele sound?" asked Suzy.

"Do you like that?" asked Spike.

The puppy let out a soft sweet bark.

"Adele it is," said Spike.

"We do need to talk about kids," said Spike.

"I know," said Suzy.

Then the light turned green again. Spike sighed. It was five more minutes before they hit another stoplight.

"Do you want kids?" asked Spike.

"Of course I do but I'm not sure I'm ready or if now the right time is now," said Suzy looking over at Spike.

"They say pets are like kids. If we can handle Adele, can we think about it?" asked Spike.

"I didn't think you would want kids right now," said Suzy.

"We aren't getting any younger," said Spike.

Suzy thought hard about what Spike had asked her. She decided before the light changed again.

"We can think about it if we can handle Adele," said Suzy.

"I'm not saying we're going to try to have kids right away; I just want us to think about it more seriously then," said Spike.

"I know that," said Suzy.

Spike stayed all night Saturday and didn't leave until he had go to work on Monday. When he did get to work the first thing he did was show photos of Adele to everyone he saw. Lou knew that it was only a matter of time before Suzy would meet the team and their relationship would get serious.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading. Thanks PSU93Girl, my belta reader. Please review.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you can recognize.

**Claimer:** I do own anything you can't recognize.

**WARNING:** mild violence, mild sexual reference, mild swearing, etc.

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Chapter 6 "Welcome To the Family,"**

"Spike, are you going to bring Suzy and Adele to the cookout?" asked Lou, getting his gym bag out of locker.

"I'm thinking about it. I'm just concerned about there being alcohol," said Spike.

"Don't worry about that. She's a strong enough person to resist beer, which she hates anyway. She can drink you know without having a relapse, she knows how to control herself," said Lou.

"I guess you're right. She does only order half drinks now and she won't have more than two drinks," said Spike.

"Don't worry about her fitting in; she's never had a problem with that. She can be more laid back or an energy machine. She might give Jules a run for her money in volleyball," said Lou.

"I can see that too. She doesn't let her age stop her. She's still as athletic as she was when we first met," said Spike.

"Even as far back as her junior year of high school. She was a varsity volleyball player, on the varsity swim team, and she was a competitive ice skater," said Lou.

"It's hard to see Suzy ice skating," said Spike.

"She did from age fourteen to twenty-six. She does it just to prove the point she can still do it now. She was an amazing ice skater who loved every second she was on the ice, which showed in her performances," said Lou.

"I learn something new about her every day," laughed Spike.

"So are you going to bring Suzy and Adele?" asked Lou.

"I will if Suzy wants to go," said Spike.

"I would stay and talk but I need to get hamburger buns," said Lou.

"See you there," said Spike.

"I'll be waiting," said Lou.

Spike knocked on Suzy's door. He knew the house was unlocked but didn't want to intrude.

"Suzy are you home?" called Spike.

"Sorry, I was in kitchen," said Suzy, opening the door.

"You had me worried for a second," said Spike, giving Suzy a peck on the forehead.

"That's sweet of you," said Suzy, turning a light shade of pink.

"How has your day been?" asked Spike.

"Look what Adele did," said Suzy, taking Spike into the kitchen.

There was mud on the floor, walls, counter, kitchen table, the chairs, the stove, the refrigerator, and even some on the ceiling. There were pots scattered all over the floor. Adele was sitting in the middle of the kitchen with a guilty look on her face.

"Sweetie what did you do," said Spike in a low tone.

Adele wagged her tail.

"Adele, you made a huge mess," said Spike, "you know better than to leave the doormat when you're muddy."

Suzy sighed as she hosed the ceiling.

"You made your mother's day difficult," said Spike, kneeling down to Adele's height.

Adele whimpered giving Spike huge sad eyes then licked his hand. Suzy's eyes softened at the sight.

"Do you want me to give her a bath while you finish up in here?" asked Spike.

"That would be great," said Suzy.

"Are you up to going to a picnic?" asked Spike "we do it every year at the SRU."

"Of course," said Suzy.

"Are you okay?" asked Spike.

"No. Spike the café is going bankrupt," said Suzy.

"We can get through this," said Spike.

"How?" Suzy asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"We can manage without the café," said Spike.

"For how long before we run out of money?" said Suzy.

"There are many job options out there," said Spike.

"I'm going to file for bankruptcy and find something else to do," said Suzy, taking deep breath.

"See it will be okay if you let yourself think clearly," said Spike.

"I'm so lucky to have you," said Suzy, kissing Spike softly.

"Not as lucky as I am to have you," whispered Spike.

"Let's just agree we are both very lucky," whispered Suzy.

Adele yelped and squashed between Spike and Suzy, making them laugh before going their separate directions.

Suzy was able to finish up before Spike so she joined him in the bathroom.

"Suzy, can you hand me a towel?" asked Spike.

"Sure," said Suzy, handing Spike a towel from the towel rack.

Spike dried off Adele then let her out of the bathtub.

"I just need to grab the pasta from the refrigerator and we can head out," said Spike.

"I'll grab Adele's crate just in case," said Suzy.

"Come on," said Suzy picking up Adele.

"Whose car are we talking?" asked Suzy.

"Mine, Adele doesn't need to be put in her crate," said Spike, coming out with his pasta dish.

"Alright," said Suzy, putting Adele into the car.

Then she grabbed the dog crate and put that in the trunk. She sat down in the front passenger seat, putting Spike's pasta dish on the back seat where the dog wasn't.

"Relax, they'll love you," said Spike.

"Easy for you to say," said Suzy.

"No matter what I'll always love you," said Spike.

"I know and I'll never stop loving you," said Suzy.

Spike began to drive. Suzy was looking out the window when all off a sudden she had twelve kilograms of fur in her lap. She jumped but then smiled, petting Adele's head.

"She's getting to the point you notice when she jumps on you," said Spike.

"She is two months old and twelve kilograms how couldyou not?" said Suzy.

"We haven't talked about kids yet," said Spike, changing the subject at a stoplight.

"You want to talk about kids while driving?" inquired Suzy.

"Now is as good as any other time," said Spike.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about kids?" asked Suzy as Adele gnawed on her hand.

"How many kids do you want?" asked Spike.

"I don't really know. More than one but no more than four. Once you have more than four you can't easily give them equal attention," said Suzy. "How many do you want?"

"Two or three," said Spike.

"What would you do if I told you I was pregnant right now?" asked Suzy "I'm 99.9 percent sure I'm not but that's way off topic."

"First I would probably crash the car, and then run around the car a few times. Then call Lou to ask him to pick us up," said Spike.

Suzy couldn't help but laugh at Spike's expressions while he talked.

"What would you do if you found out you were pregnant?" asked Spike.

"I would probably take ten tests to make sure it was real, start crying, then take a shower to try to calm down," said Suzy.

"Why would you start crying?" asked Spike.

"First off my hormones would get the best of me and I would be running through all the things that could go wrong in my head," said Suzy.

"I really don't know what to say because if you were pregnant right now I wouldn't know quite what to do or think," said Spike.

"You're a guy, it's supposed to be like that," said Suzy.

"Isn't that stereotyping?" said Spike.

"Have you ever heard of a guy knowing what to do when his wife, fiancée, or girlfriend is pregnant?" asked Suzy.

"No," said Spike.

"Now that I think about it, what would we do?" asked Suzy.

"We both went over the fact I don't know," said Spike.

"I'd be worried about how we could afford a child, and whether people would try to force us to get married," said Suzy.

"There are little side jobs that I could pick up when I didn't have work," said Spike.

"I'm sure we could work it out, we have so far," said Suzy.

"We're here," said Spike.

"That was the shortest twenty minutes of my life," said Suzy.

Spike chuckled.

"Don't laugh at me. I'm nervous enough," said Suzy.

"Stop worrying," said Spike, getting out of the car and getting his pasta dish.

"I wish I could," mumbled Suzy, getting out.

Adele jumped out of Suzy's lap before Suzy could grab her but the dog landed on her feet. Suzy glared at Adele who gave her an innocent look.

"I swear Adele is a kid not a dog," said Suzy.

"Besides that fact that she barks, not talks," said Spike.

Suzy rolled her eyes.

"Come on Adele, I want to put your leash on," said Suzy.

Adele jumped and tried to run away. Suzy had predicted this and scooped her up from behind.

"You can't trick me," said Suzy, attaching the leash to Adele's collar.

"Follow me," said Spike.

Suzy followed Spike through a gate at a normal pace until Adele decided to take off, randomly spiriting and nearly taking off Suzy's arm.

"No," said Suzy in a low voice pulling the leash back a little.

Adele sat down and started to eat the leash.

"Are you okay?" asked Spike, concerned that Suzy had dislocated something.

"I'm fine, she isn't that strong yet," said Suzy.

"She's only two months old and she can nearly snap our wrists— think of when she is six months old," said Spike.

"I might need a shoulder brace by then," said Suzy.

"Hey everyone, I brought pasta!" called out Spike.

"Where have you been?" asked Wordy. "Never mind, I see."

Suzy wasn't sure if she should be insulted. Adele was begging to be let off the leash but Suzy didn't want her turning this peaceful picnic into a hectic gathering of baboons. She could almost see Adele sitting on the picnic table with everything in sight on the ground or in mid-air.

"We had a bit of a mess in the kitchen," said Spike.

"Look what the dog brought in," said Lou, poking Suzy's sides from behind.

"Lou!" gasped Suzy, jumping a few feet in the air.

"You always have to do that if my back is turned don't you," said Suzy, playfully slapping Lou's arm.

"That hurt," Lou whined, trying to keep a straight face.

"IF that hurt you need to work out more. For crying out loud I could take more than that," said Suzy, rolling her eyes.

"Suzy, Lou play nice now," said Spike.

"Aww, come on we're just messing around with each other," said Lou.

"You always say that then she hits you," said Spike.

Right on queue Suzy backhanded Lou's head.

"No fair, you two work together now," said Lou.

Suzy rolled her eyes and Spike tried to put on an innocent look.

"Come on you have a lot of people to meet," said Spike, tugging Suzy's arm.

Lou pouted at the "loss" of his friend.

"Here you can have Adele," said Suzy, holding out the leash.

"Adele you love Uncle Lou don't you?" said Lou, picking up Adele who licked his face.

"Of course she does with all the extra treats you give her," said Suzy, putting her hands on her hips.

"I can spoil her," said Lou.

"Spike does a good enough job of that," said Suzy.

"Come on," said Spike.

Suzy gave in to Spike and sighed.

"Everyone meet Suzy. Suzy meet everyone," called out Spike.

"I don't think every person is named everyone," said Suzy, rolling her eyes playfully.

"I'm not," said Lou.

"Lou, I already know you," said Suzy.

"You could have had a memory lapse," said Lou.

"I would suggest you don't repeat that," warned Suzy

"That didn't come out like I meant it too," said Lou.

"Stop distracting her," said Spike.

"Getting jealous," teased Lou.

"I can distract her if I want to," Spike smirked.

Suzy playfully slapped Spike's arm.

"Now you got me in trouble," said Spike.

Lou laughed.

"Come on you two, we want to meet her, not listen to you two bicker," said Ed.

"That's Ed, you know the tall bald one over there" said Spike.

"How can she tell who is who with that description?" said Lou.

"Hey, watch it!" warned Ed.

Suzy was able to pick up that Ed was the leader but not quite a sergeant. She knew enough about team dynamics to know the traits for the different jobs.

"It's a pleasure meeting you. Spike talks about you all the time," said Ed.

Suzy glared at Spike.

"I'm not telling anything embarrassing," said Spike, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Spike finally found a girl who isn't afraid of us," said Sam.

"More like a girl who didn't run off after meeting Ed," laughed Wordy.

"Hey! Only one did that," said Spike.

"Suzy doesn't scare easily. She put up with me in high school and my "friends" who liked trying to pay a visit. I'm certain they were more scared of her than she was of them," said Lou.

"First off they knew if they even laid a hand on me my cousin would seriously harm them, and they knew from when I was younger that when I got angry I could and would beat their asses," said Suzy.

"Which cousin?" asked Lou.

"David, who else would they be scared of? Leo was a coward when it came to them. David might have been a jerk most of the time but he does care about family," said Suzy.

"He did changed quite a bit after that accident," said Lou.

"Can we move on?" asked Suzy, her voice becoming icy.

"The blond-haired one back there is Sam," said Spike.

Sam gave a short wave.

"Next to him is Jules," said Spike.

Jules smiled at her but didn't come over since she was currently putting food on her plate.

"That's Wordy," said Spike.

Suzy could see what Lou meant now. Three out of the four guys who she didn't know on the SRU team were either bald or nearly bald. Suzy took note of Wordy's very short brown hair and hoped that she would remember that.

"I'm Greg," said Greg.

"Nice to meet you, Spike talks about you a lot," said Suzy. "Actually he talks about all of you a lot."

"Quick move," laughed Greg.

"Smart move," corrected Lou.

Suzy rolled her eyes.

"You're going to make a great addition to the family," said Jules, patting Suzy on the shoulder.

Suzy gave Spike him a "what the hell is going on?" look. He laughed and said,"She's on a team with all guys." Suzy chuckled at that thought.

Suzy was able to figure out a way to remember who was who by the middle of the cookout. She and Jules had seemed to bond due to the fact they both had lots of guy friends and had both been or currently were on the police force.

"Do you think Spike found the _girl_?" Wordy asked Greg and Ed.

"I have to admit she fits in better than all the other girls," said Ed.

"I think he found the _girl_. She understands the job being a former cop so when he loses his temper after a hard call she'll back off. Did you see her with your girls Wordy?" asked Greg.

"She is great with them. Shelly typically doesn't let any of Spike's girlfriends near them the first time but she let her right in. The girl does have a certain effect on people," said Wordy.

"There is a lot we don't know yet. She seems to be very mature, that will be good for Spike," said Greg.

"I think we can accept this one into the family," said Ed.

"Agreed," said Greg.

"Absolutely," said Wordy.

Wordy looked over at Spike and Suzy who were sitting next to Sam and Jules. Suzy and Jules were laughing while Spike and Sam looked flustered. Adele ran away from Wordy's girls and jumped into Suzy's lap. Suzy stroked Adele's fur then ruffled it playfully, getting a playful bark in respond. Suzy picked up a stick and threw it for Adele to chase.

Greg smiled when Wordy pointed out the four of them. That cleared all doubts when he saw how happy they were.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading and please review. I would like to thank PSU96Girl for all her help. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you can recognize.

**Claimer:** I do own anything you can't recognize.

**WARNING:** violence, mild sexual reference, swearing, ect.

"**Finding Home Again"**

**Chapter 7 "The Past Is Whispering,"**

Suzy had just gotten home from city hall. She had set down the copies of all the paperwork she signed. She let Adele out into the backyard before going to get a bag of groceries she had bought from her car. She turned around to leave the car when she saw a gun being held by a brown haired guy with a red bandanna over his mouth pointed straight between her eyes.

"You're going to set those down in the house and then you're coming with me," said the guy.

Suzy didn't say a thing. She felt her heart pounding. She tried not to show the fear that was raging through her. She knew she was in trouble.

"Good, now take that piece of paper and write these down," said the guy, "pay up or she dies, sworn by Sly."

Suzy felt her hand shaking as she wrote down what "Sly" said. She knew what was going on. She had a feeling Leo or David had gotten into trouble.

"Who needs to pay up?" asked Suzy, losing her voice.

"Leo," said Sly.

"Leo is in Afghanistan," said Suzy looking at the time.

"That's what he told you. He was dishonourably discharged six weeks in," said Sly

"He doesn't even know where I live. I haven't seen him in a year," said Suzy.

Sly lowered his gun knowing this was not worth his time. He fired two shots then ran out the door.

Suzy pressed her back against the wall. She hadn't been hit but she was petrified and hysterical. She took deep breaths and then went out the lock her car and shut the front door. She locked both of the locks on the door, then let Adele in, locking that door too.

After an hour she couldn't stay in the house anymore so she put Adele back into her crate and drove to the grocery store for the second time to get Adele a new chew toy.

She spent an hour in the store, half of it in the line. She put the dog food in the truck then turned the key in the ignition with her cell to her ear calling the SRU. She heard a click and her heart stopped. She didn't move a single muscle for the longest two phone rings of her life.

"Hello, Suzy. Good timing Team One just got in," said Winnie.

"Winnie, please give the phone to Lou," said Suzy.

"Lou, call," said Winnie.

"Hello," said Lou.

"I know Spike is waiting for me to call but I need to talk to you. Sly decided to pay me a visit. Leo was dishonourably discharged last year, he lied to me," said Suzy.

"Sly was just a little kid when I left," said Lou.

"I think he is in his late teens now. He definitely has a bone to pick with Leo," said Suzy.

"I hate to say it, but I thought Leo was into drugs in high school. I thought it would be better if you didn't know," said Lou.

"That let me think David was lying to me," said Suzy "when Leo was using me!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't think anything he did would hurt you," said Lou.

"Someone planted a car bomb on my car while I was in the car, I heard the pin drop," said Suzy "just like the one that killed Delaney."

"Don't move," said Lou.

"I wasn't planning on it," said Suzy.

"Boss, Suzy's in trouble," said Lou.

Spike only heard one word—Suzy-and his heart stopped. He knew staying objective wasn't going to be easy.

"What do you mean?" asked Greg.

"Car bomb, a gang member is after her cousin but is using her," said Lou.

"Did she trigger it?" asked Spike.

"She heard the pin drop," said Lou.

"Shit," said Spike.

"What is going on?" asked Suzy.

"Spike talk to her," said Lou.

Spike took the phone.

"Hey, girly," said Spike.

"Hey," said Suzy as her voice quivered.

"Don't worry we'll get you out of there. Just try not to move too much," said Spike.

"I'm scared," said Suzy.

"I'll be there soon. You'll be okay," said Spike.

"I love you so much," said Suzy, tears welling up.

"I love you too," said Spike.

"I'll let you go so you can get here," said Suzy.

"Think positive," said Spike.

"I'll try," said Suzy, "bye."

"Bye," said Spike.

Spike gave the phone to Winnie.

"Spike can you stay objective?" asked Greg.

"Yes," said Spike, "she'll freak out if I don't show up."

"Good point. She'll trust Spike she might not trust someone else," said Lou.

"What did her cousin do?" asked Ed.

"He was into drugs. I knew that he was in high school but he joined the military so I thought he cleaned up but he didn't. He was dishonorably discharged a year ago and told us he was in Afghanistan so obviously he didn't," said Lou.

No one said anything when they geared up. Soon it was Spike and Lou alone still gearing up. Lou couldn't get past the fact that Suzy wouldn't be in this if he had told her the truth. Spike was distracted by the fact that Suzy was in danger.

"Lou, this isn't your fault," said Spike.

Lou said nothing but did pay a bit of attention to what Spike was saying.

"You told me they were close and if you would have told her she would have been heartbroken. We both know what family means to her and what her family really is," said Spike.

"To her family means everything even though her family is messed up," said Lou. "She told me because she couldn't pick her family and she had to learn to live with the quirks."

Spike nodded.

"She loves them but they won't return the favour besides two other people in her family, David and her older brother. I don't know his name," said Lou.

"I didn't even know she had a brother," said Spike.

"He lives in Vancouver now; he is the one taking care of the café there," said Lou.

"She has two families now, I think she feels like she has to keep both happy," said Spike.

"She'll realize one day that her real family isn't worth it. Her brother didn't even call when she got shot," said Lou. "David called her every day for a week."

"I don't know what to say. If you have a problem with it do what you want but I'm not getting involved," said Spike.

Lou glared at Spike. Spike didn't care because he knew that Suzy hated people condemning her family.

"Come on, you two are taking forever," said Ed.

Lou and Spike distanced themselves from each other. Greg noticed in a matter of seconds that something had happened in the locker room. So he pulled Spike over by himself.

"What is going on between you two?" asked Greg.

"It's more like what is going on with Lou. I refused to help him with something I know won't go very well and now he won't talk to me," said Spike.

"What is this something you refused to do?" asked Greg.

"Confronting Suzy with what's going on with her family," said Spike.

"Lou seems to know quite a bit, maybe it would be better if you did," said Greg.

"I've tried before and will never try again. She wouldn't talk to me for six months and lost all control of her temper. When she losses her temper it's like an erupting volcano," said Spike.

"Any idea why she is so guarded about her family?" asked Greg.

"She hates sympathy and whenever she tells people the big picture about her family that's what is received. All she ever told me is that she went to live with her aunt at age twelve," said Spike.

"I don't think she will ever open up to you or Lou about her family," said Greg.

"I'm not trying anymore," said Spike.

Before everyone left the station Greg pulled Lou away from the group. He wanted to know everything before making a choice of how to handle this.

"Why are you so upset by Suzy's family?" asked Greg.

"I know for a fact that her aunt didn't give a second thought about her own kids or Suzy. That wasn't a good place for any child let alone a child that wasn't an immediate family member. She never talks about her immediate family," said Lou.

"Sometimes it's better not to know," said Greg.

"I'd rather know than say the wrong thing," said Lou.

"I'm going to tell you what I told Spike. From what I got from Spike I don't think she'll ever open up about her family to you or Spike," said Greg.

"She can't keep going like this. She is wasting her time trying to help a family that doesn't care about her," said Lou.

"Let me figure it out. You need to stay out of it," said Greg.

Lou went into the car without saying a word to anyone. Everyone just froze.

"Don't just stand there; we have a bomb to take care of," said Greg. "Wordy can I speak to you alone?"

"Sure," said Wordy.

"I need you to talk to Suzy. You might be able to get her to open up. She won't open up to Spike or Lou and I think she knows they will let their tempers get to them," said Greg.

"What do you want me to get her to open up on?" asked Wordy.

"Her family," said Greg.

"What are you thinking boss?" asked Wordy.

"I'm thinking there seem to be family secrets. There are a lot of addicts and broken families. I want you to see what you can get Suzy to tell you," said Greg.

"She has a troubled past so you're concerned it could affect the present," said Wordy.

"I'd rather not get a call from her saying a family member is going to jump off a bridge and have to ask her why," said Greg.

"Knowing might help us in the future in case anything happens," said Wordy.

"I want you to watch her today. I want to see if we can notice anything while she is in distress, she might give something away," said Greg.

"I'll watch her," said Wordy.

The past ten minutes were torture to Suzy. She had played through everything that could go wrong twice. She prayed they would let Spike defuse the bomb. She needed him. She sighed when she heard the sirens.

"Keep them back!" ordered Greg.

Spike carefully approached the car. He sat a bag down next to the open car door.

"Are you okay?" asked Spike.

Suzy nodded yes.

"Now I'm going to see what we're looking at here," said Spike.

Suzy nodded in recognition.

"Alright, this is a rather simple one," said Spike.

Suzy blew out air as a last attempt to keep herself from going insane. She prayed to god for this not to be the way it ended. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Spike clipped two wires and slowly detached the bomb. He detained it then returned to Suzy.

"It's over," said Spike.

Suzy began to sob. She could hold it anymore. It was all too much to bear at the same time.

"Everything is okay now," said Spike.

"This isn't okay," said Suzy.

"What isn't okay?' asked Spike.

"Spike, my cousin is doing drugs. He is like my twin, my other half and now I've pretty much lost him," said Suzy starting to sob again.

"We can work through this," said Spike.

"How do you suppose we are going to do that? This isn't like money issues," said Suzy.

"I won't let anything happen to you," said Spike, pushing a single dark brown curl behind Suzy's ear.

Suzy gave Spike a faint smile.

"I don't want to drive this thing nor do I want to get out," said Suzy.

"I'm going to go ask Sarge if I can check the house for anything," said Spike.

"Okay," said Suzy.

Spike walked off. Suzy couldn't read their lips and sighed. She then saw Lou coming over through her rear view mirror.

"You okay?" asked Lou.

"I'm fine," said Suzy.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about Leo," said Lou.

"It's okay. You did what you thought was right so there is no reason to apologize," said Suzy.

"I just wanted to be sure you were okay," said Lou.

"I am. Just tell Wordy to stop watching me because I know he is," said Suzy.

"Okay," said Lou, leaving.

Lou came back over to Sam, Jules, and Wordy.

"She's fine," said Lou, "and Wordy she knows you're watching her."

"How can she tell that?" asked Wordy.

"She's a former cop, who knows how," said Lou.

"Lou was she paranoid when you first met?" asked Wordy.

"First time we met or saw each other?" asked Lou.

"Both," said Wordy.

"We were juniors in high school and she seemed maybe a bit overly focused. She was a great student and athletic but she was always afraid of failing at anything. When we first saw each other we were twelve, she was a bit paranoid back then but then she was surrounded by gang members she knew had killed people before," said Lou.

"Did she ever hang around a certain type of people back then?" asked Wordy.

"She fallowed her older cousin David everywhere. She followed him like a puppy," said Lou.

"Like a young sister with her brother," said Wordy.

"Everyone thought they were siblings but told us they were cousins," said Lou.

"I hate to ask this but is it possible he is?" asked Wordy.

"I don't know with her family. They have twisted enough minds to do something like that," said Lou.

"Sam go with Spike to make sure nothing is set up at her house," said Greg.

"Spike I would let the dog out. Otherwise she runs around the neighbourhood. She loves my yard for some reason," said Jules.

"She's like Houdini's dog assistant," said Spike.

Ed laughed.

"Don't tell Suzy I said that, she gets very angry," said Spike.

"Adele is like her kid of course she gets angry when someone 'insults' her," said Ed.

"I learned not to make any comment even as a joke," said Spike.

"Because otherwise she kicks you out of the house even if it is raining out," said Lou.

"She only threw me out once when it was raining. It was a stupid thing to say when she's already in a bad mood," said Spike.

"I doubt they would set anything up in her house but we can go check," said Sam.

"They would, they have in the past," said Lou.

"Just what I wanted to do, search for bombs," said Sam.

"Who knows what else they have," said Spike.

After Sam and Spike left Wordy went over to talk to Suzy. He wasn't expecting her to tell him anything but it was worth a shot.

"How are you holding up?" asked Wordy.

"Besides the fact I was almost murdered, alright," said Suzy rolling her eyes. "If Lou and Spike put you up to this just leave now."

"Greg asked me to. You're family and we're worried about you," said Wordy.

"Why?" asked Suzy. "There is nothing that is worth worrying about."

"You know whatever you go through so do Spike and Lou. They keep getting into arguments over your family and obviously there is something wrong when you almost get killed because of something a family member did," said Wordy.

Suzy said nothing at first. She was debating if she should tell Wordy or not.

"My family is screwed up and Lou gets upset because I refuse to ignore them. I only talk to my cousins and brother," said Suzy.

"Why did you go live with your aunt?" asked Wordy.

"A twelve year old who nearly committed suicide, there is something wrong with the parenting there," said Suzy.

Wordy took a second to figure out what to say.

"I know it's hard to see but I didn't know better back then," said Suzy.

"I'm guessing they weren't supportive," said Wordy.

"Everything had to perfect on the first try for them," said Suzy coldly.

"That couldn't have been easy for a kid," said Wordy.

"That's why my little sister got into drugs," said Suzy.

Wordy didn't know what to say.

"My older brother, Theodore, turned out OK even living with them. But he is a strong person. He manages my café in Vancouver and is a school social worker," said Suzy. "His downfall is he is self-centered outside of work or school."

"Ah," said Wordy.

"David, my older cousin, played the older brother even though he was in a gang. He would have been furious if I got involved with any gang. He turned his life around after he lost his little sister but his mother blamed everything on him and never stopped until she died. He is now a paramedic in St. Jacobs, he always told me I should have become a paramedic instead of a police officer but I loved my job," said Suzy.

"Why did you leave then?" asked Wordy.

"Loved being the main word in that sentence. I lost my partner, sister, and aunt at the same time so I lost the love for my job. I wish I could find a job I loved like I loved being a police officer," said Suzy.

"I think you will," said Wordy.

Suzy smiled softly then her phone rang. Suzy saw it was David and picked the cell phone up.

"Hey, David," said Suzy.

"Spike called and told me what happened. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," said David.

"I'm fine but are you?" asked Suzy.

"Claire left the kids and me. She filed for divorce and said she didn't want contact with the kids," said David.

"If I ever see her again," said Suzy, her voice hitting a dangerous tone.

"Leo's missing again. I'm concerned he might be dead this time," said David.

"Then call the police, not me. I'll be honest though after what just happened to me it's possible," said Suzy.

"Do you think you can help with the kids?" asked David.

"I can come out for a week or so if you need me there," said Suzy.

"Okay," said David.

"I'll bring it up to Spike tonight," said Suzy.

David sighed.

"Have you ever wished the past would stop repeating?" asked David.

"My past doesn't repeat it whispers in my ear once in a while. One day it won't whisper to me anymore and I look forward to the day I leave the past in the past," said Suzy.

* * *

><p>To all readers I must warn you this story by be discontinued do to the fact Suzy isn't what I meant her to be. I would like readers to vote on my poll about Suzy or my new character, votes will be considered when I make my final decision. I posted the one-shot with my new character Sabrina on it it and it is official there will be an multichapter story with her. Thank you everyone who has viewed and reviewed. Please vote because this might not be the end if you do and there are four choices not just two! I would like to thank PSU96Girl for all her help.<p> 


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